August 31, 2018

CNN Criticized Over Lanny Davis Story

After identifying himself as a source for a CNN story that claimed President Trump had prior knowledge of the Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer, Lanny Davis, Michael Cohen’s lawyer, backtracked on his statement and stated that he could not confirm the story. (Reuters)

“[Davis] is a long-standing Democratic figure in Washington scandals... He is smart, affable, well-connected. However, he straddles the murky line between lawyer and media flak, a dual role that is highly valued but dangerously blurs what should be bright lines of representation.”

The Hill

“Davis, meanwhile, has also retracted at least two other claims about what Cohen ‘knows’ about Trump. Maybe all those years as a Clinton spokesman just leave him unable to tell the truth, but what’s CNN’s excuse?”

New York Post

Some are speculating about why Cohen’s story has suddenly changed. “First, there’s the perjury problem. Cohen, it turns out, had testified to Congress last year that he personally did not know anything about Don Jr.’s Trump Tower meeting beforehand...[Or] maybe, at long last, Cohen has decided to rein in his weird PR play and start giving whatever information he does have to investigators... Finally, there’s the possibility that Cohen was lying all along about having important Trump-Russia information.”

Vox

“Davis, meanwhile, has also retracted at least two other claims about what Cohen ‘knows’ about Trump. Maybe all those years as a Clinton spokesman just leave him unable to tell the truth, but what’s CNN’s excuse?”

New York Post

“While bad behavior from sources is expected, the lack of skepticism from self-styled unbiased journalists is another story. A critical observer might even theorize that Trump-era partisan newsroom culture has made journalists increasingly susceptible to being deceived by sources that peddle convenient stories to fit preconceived notions... Trump’s ‘fake news’ hyperbole has currency with many Americans because the political media too often lives up to their worst expectations.”